A story of betrayal, greed and answering to a greater calling
A true David and Goliath tale, follow former RAF pilot, Julian Knight, on the decade-long battle that unravelled following his chance discovery of Standard Chartered Bank’s at least $1.5 billion in violations, tied to Iran and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps terrorism. Littered with deceit and insatiable corruption, join Julian on a real-life journey that spans the world of global politics and high finance foreign currency trading as he reveals some of the plot twists that saw him walk the line between losing his marriage, his health, and his life, to uncover the truth and bring SCB to justice.
The Legacy Within
Thursday, August 14th, 2025 | Holbeach
I sit in my study, the soft rustle of the Lincolnshire fields that surround me drifts through my window, a peaceful soundtrack far removed from that of the years that preceded the moment itself.
In my hand, a photograph I took just minutes earlier. A Hidesign briefcase, crafted in the UK, the leatherwork meticulously finished, looks up at me from the screen of my phone. The RAF insignia, once such a proud detail, is faded. The clasp, worn from use. The handle, as broken as the world I left behind, the world I was dismissed from with no rhyme or reason.
My father gave it to me when I left the RAF, a parting gift to mark my choice to trade cockpit precision for the glass towers of London and a future in finance. But he couldn’t have known that this gift would become the silent keeper of a war that began in 2008 and still rages on today. A war sparked by a data trail that unearthed Standard Chartered Bank’s at least $1.5 billion in violations. Violations that have funded Iran’s nuclear program, IRGC terrorism, and had a hand in fueling the violence inflicted by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
That briefcase, a bridge from my military past to a career laced with betrayal, holds more than incriminating evidence. It holds a legacy. And it’s time that it was unlocked.
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The Story Begins…
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Fast Jets and Finance
The first in a series of explosive teasers from the forthcoming book, The Billion Dollar Briefcase, this instalment will take you back in time to experience Julian's adrenaline-fuelled life as a pilot, and the shocking moment he uncovered evidence detailing the funding of terrorist groups and the supply of weapons to conflict zones. Prepare for a real-life story of profound ethical collision, where a former serviceman who left 'the fight' is pulled back into a battle for truth, exposing the devastating link between global finance and global terror.
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Barman? Chocolate Martini
The year is 2008. The setting: a glittering New York Gala Dinner. Pick up Julian’s true-to-life story during his initial few weeks at Standard Chartered Bank, where he walked into a world of “smoke and mirrors” served with a constant flow of Chocolate Martinis. Beneath the veneer of philanthropy, the ballroom was controlled by manipulative characters, rotten to the core. Dive into the next installment of this exposé into high-stakes finance, where a new hire navigates a night of brazen secrets and political turmoil, where endless partying continued carefree while Wall Street burned.
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The Keys to the Kingdom
Lured back into finance by a project developing SCB’s Water Policy, Julian landed in Singapore with full access to the Bank’s digital network. Keys to the kingdom that led him to ‘Project Green’. What he thought was an environmental endeavour was, in reality, a shadowy operation linked to high-ranking officials, run out of Dubai, with accounts linked to Iran. What was Project Green? Why did asking this question prompt Julian’s dismissal? And how did his second wife’s actions lead to Julian uncovering what would collapse this house of cards?
From cockpit to carbon credits
Meet Julian Knight - the man behind the book - and get to know the person who lived every detail of this story.
Julian isn't just the protagonist of this explosive real-life account; he is a veteran, a pioneering environmental finance expert, and an innovator whose career has consistently placed him at the intersection where power, profit, and conscience meet.
From his early days as an RAF Flight Lieutenant to advising governments on carbon markets and launching the UK's first commercial-scale food waste upcycling business, Julian's life has been anything but ordinary. To understand the gravity of his story, you need to understand the man who stood up to tell it.
When you see the names of leading participants in Hezbollah, Hamas, and generals in the IRGC…evidence that details the financing of munitions, down to the fertiliser used in IED bombs. Realising the sheer scale of the operation, it was horrific.
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